The Annual Running thread - beginners/ultras/whatever

Something a wee bit different this morning, took the train 2 stops along the way to work, and ran the 5k in from there.

Was really nice until I came across the flooding from yesterdays downpours, up over the ankle, lovely....

Look forward to a squelchy run home...

Looks like four throwing their hat in to the BG ring. I did mine in 2005, a grand day out. Never managed the Paddy or Ramsay but supported a few.

I have only raced on the Fells a small number of times really and although I have been quite fit (and at the sharp end on climbs) I struggled hugely on the technical bits and descents. I became so frustrated to be beaten by runners who I was fitter than, that I didnt bother racing much but really enjoyed the days on the fells running/walking most of the "rounds" etc. I think I could gain the fitness to get around most of the course and the descents are at walking pace anyway.

@surfer - descending is a bit like riding at trail centres - you have to let go! It's the holding back that puts a lot of strain on the legs, particularly the quads.

Yeah, too much tension in the muscles...

Free up a bit, took me ages to let go a bit but I does actually work.

Well I have been running on for about 3 years now and am a Leader in Running Fitness and help out at a local club in Exeter. This year I'm doing the Grizzly (hilly 18 miler off road) in March so that's my focus at the moment! Had a naff year last year with Plantar fascitias (sp?) which is now sorted.

@surfer - descending is a bit like riding at trail centres - you have to let go! It's the holding back that puts a lot of strain on the legs, particularly the quads.

It's also technique - and training for the terrain you're going to be racing on. Running downhill on easy terrain is a lot more about letting go, downhill on mud or a rocky course require a lot more concentration. IME obviously!

I've just joined the strava group - I have signed up for the london marathon ballot for the last 5 years and never got in (I think the knowledge of how small a chance I had was one of th ereasons for doing it!) and have done 'some' running in the time from signing up to getting the declined notification (as I was too scared to have to start training in the winter).

Probably got to an uncomfortable 5k in those times - but haven't run now for about 18 months. Been playing football at work though and realised that at 42, playing against people in their early 20's is no fun after 10 mins so it's time to lace up the runners again.

May struggle to get out much in the next week or so due to having a bug over xmas and dont really want to start before I'm properly over it.

Will start slow with the Zombies Run app as I started that last time and found it a quite cheesy accompaniment while on late evening runs

@surfer - descending is a bit like riding at trail centres - you have to let go! It's the holding back that puts a lot of strain on the legs, particularly the quads.

I am rubbish on the bike as well! My balance has never been great when running and I do fall in XC races more frequently than my peers. As I have got older this has got worse and my ankles are now a problem. I get the theory but I am never going to improve it much. I often run with a headtorch even when I am just running local road routes that are partly unlit (I am illogically embarrassed by this and hide it in my pocket until I have to use it) Always loved fell running and even with the balance issues I climb and cover ground quite quickly.

Joined strava group - some impressive weekly run totals.

This time last year was running 10km to work twice a week - now on 5km runs with muscle soreness for days. Need to get back on it.

Thanks for motivation!!

I’ve got plantar fasciitis too. Sucks hairy ones.

This time last year was running 10km to work twice a week - now on 5km runs with muscle soreness for days. Need to get back on it.

Any tips for the muscle soreness anyone? or does it just get easier?. Read lots of stuff online re using epsom salts in cold baths etc...

Just joined the group 🙂

Started running a few years ago, stopped Tuesday evening track training when my lad was born, vast majority of my miles are commuting. I'm 20km from work, and have a nice schedule now of running half-way to work steadily in the morning before jumping on a train, and running all the way home. That nets me ~90km during the week and still relatively fresh for more interesting running at the weekend.

Big focus last year was London Marathon, I managed successive 8 weeks of 100km in the lead-up, aim is to go bigger this year. Got a rather ambitious goal of sub 2:30, I'm currently just over 5 minutes away, so quite a big jump required. Also got some plantar fasciitis which resulted in 4 months off over the summer - keeping it fairly much under control with stretching and strengthening, but I'm in constant pain which is somewhat frustrating...

Cheers, Rich

Good luck with the sub 2:30 TF.
I missed the GFA entry for London this year so will be doing Boston (Lincs) instead, the week before.
My plan this year is to do a half or above distance race each month.
Currently sorted until May.

I'm looking to start back running again this year.
Used to run a lot before we had kids, but I've slacked off the last few years and only been doing the occasional 5km on the treadmill.
I'd like to do another Marathon at some point but that's probably a year or so away.
We have a local park run too which should help me get back out.

Cheers, just joined the STW running club as a kick up the arse to get started again. Damaged the ligaments in my ankle in July doing ironman and haven't ran since! First run last night, just 1.5 mile to test the ankle and all good!

Anyone with experience of Patellar tendonitis?
Going to see a physio,in the next few weeks,to confirm my diagnosis.

Seeing a proper [Sports] Physio is definitely the right approach I reckon.

I had this doing a Winter season on the snow in Canada:- Foam Roller, Lacrosse Ball, wobble board, stretching and strengthening exercises sorted it.

So ran tonight. Good steady 3.5 miles in bob on 30mins so an easy pace to break in the new shoes. Felt all chuffed I had ran twice this year. Then i find Richard McDowell in the club. 8 runs so far INCLUDING a park run at cycling speeds (5.45 min mile average) !! Hat doffed... Great to see so many folk signed up.

One thing that's always worth bearing in mind: no matter how good or bad you think you are, there are always much quicker people, and also much slower people. It's mostly about the personal battle for me, just a few chances where I can actually come out on top in an actual competition and even that's just cos the much better guys didn't show up for whatever reasons.

I've done c25k last year, then got bored.
Back on it since before Christmas, hoping to just run 5k at lunches through the week.

thecaptain - Member
One thing that's always worth bearing in mind: no matter how good or bad you think you are, there are always much quicker people, and also much slower people. It's mostly about the personal battle for me, just a few chances where I can actually come out on top in an actual competition and even that's just cos the much better guys didn't show up for whatever reasons

Very much this..

It’s only You that matters, forget everyone else’s goals/targets/actuals/ability..

Just enjoy yourself.

just a few chances where I can actually come out on top in an actual competition and even that's just cos the much better guys didn't show up for whatever reasons

All our victories are because somebody doesnt turn up! You can only beat who is there. To paraphrase Woody Allen "95% of success is turning up" 😀

Absolutely, if it was about beating anyone, I'd be as well not bothering. 😆

10.5k all in today, from train to work and back at night. Felt really heavy legged after doing 12k on Tuesday night, but my pace wasn't bad, for me.

Ahead of schedule for the January 160k, but will be behind after a rest day tomoro.

4km today and did a proper run rather than circles round the playing field, that's quite an achievement for me at this stage (at least it will be provided I can walk down the stairs pain free tomorrow). 5km next time out, then will be starting some faster pace stuff and maybe up to trying a run on the hills.

1st interval session tonight. 400m efforts. Urgh. Felt sick for about 1hr after.

Joined the strava club.

I’ve been getting back to more running of late. only have a gym and treadmill when away with work, so spend time running rather than biking. Was just doing 5ks out there due to boredom.

But deciding to get back to doing more trail and hill running.
Bought my other half running beyond for Christmas which has inspired me to get fit for a big ultra/Skyrace next year.

So did 11.5km round gt walking paths today in just over an hour. 10km gets roughly 400m of climbing so not too bad.

Just joined the club.

I’ve been running on and off for a few years but never really got into it. Did a few Triathlons last year which got me running a bit more seriously. Now signed up to the Brighton Marathon in April!

Training was going well, managed to do a half marathon at a steady pace after 4 weeks. Then pulled a calf muscle which put me out for 2 weeks. Back on it now and trying to steadily build back up but going more gradually. Will see how things go in the next few months!

We used to run something we called "600m specials"

600m almost flat out (usually around 90-92 seconds for me) a 100m slow jog back to the 300m line (its amazing how slow you can jog 100m when you need to!) then flat out for 300m. a long recovery of about 5 mins between each. Usually only 3.

If anything could make you vomit....

"hard" doesnt need to mean "distance"

In no particular order, my planned races for this year include Box Hill fell race (tougher than it sounds), the British Night Orienteering championships, Marmot Dark Mountains (night-time mountain marathon), the ROC mountain marathon, and Expedition Africa (5 day adventure race). I like navigational races!

I do also quite fancy another ultra, as Lakes in a Day went pretty well for me last year, but not sure which yet. Suppose I better stop eating and get back to training!

Suppose I better stop eating and get back to training!

Just a couple more days to go until the end of Christmas, thank god!

I'm glad that Christmas is over, not that I over-ate, just that it's easier to get my runs in again now. I need to get to and from work, so 2 hours of running a day is easily justified without being anti-social 😀

Cheers, Rich

@djtom I enjoyed the Roc last year. Did long score and not quite as good as last year but think was 4th or 5th solo. Be doing the linear next year for a change.

I had forgotten the local night Orienteering league starts again next week. All informal but good for a quick training run and a pint afterwards to undo the good work.

Bit of a rolled sore left ankle for me, came off a wet root into a left foot mulchy bog onto a lump of flint at QECP and my heals quite sore.. which is a bit dull.

Managing every other day 10-15k on the trials, might be over doing it a bit and the ankle might just force some rest.. which is a bit dull.

Had a good Xmas, plenty of time for running, weathers been wet and windy down this way so have kept to QECP/Head Down/Earlswood/Bere Forest basically under forest cover.. which has been fabulous.

Just bought some ON Cloudflyers and Cloudventure Peaks to try out on the trails and gravel trails, I'm a big Sal SpeedX fanbouy and this is a departure for me, but I like the ON range and hope they'll like me...
These:
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and these:
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If you are bored and fancy spending some time reviewing/deciding what to buy, I subscribe to this Youtube site: Trailrunningreview
[url= https://www.youtube.com/user/trailrunningreview/videos ]Trailrunningreview_Youtube[/url]
Forgot to say, its a Spanish site ...

Did some intervals this afternoon - 8 x 400m. Hurty.

Edinburgh marathon for me.

Going for 3.30 in the run up i hope to beat

19mins 5k
40mins 10k
1.5hr half

All of which i've been a whisker off un the past (literally 1second for the 5k)

Edinburgh marathon for me.

Going for 3.30 in the run up i hope to beat

19mins 5k
40mins 10k
1.5hr half

All of which i've been a whisker off un the past (literally 1second for the 5k)

Good luck. Pretty much same position I’m in but I’m aiming for an autumn marathon. Currently at 19:25 5k, 41:39 10k (but only ran one 10k race which was August ) and 1:33 half.
Ran my first road marathon in October aiming for 3:20 but the wheels fell off at mile 19 and I came in at 3:40. Lesson learnt! Going for it again this year but I know what I need to do this time around in terms of training

If you are bored and fancy spending some time reviewing/deciding what to buy, I subscribe to this Youtube site: Trailrunningreview
Trailrunningreview_Youtube
Forgot to say, its a Spanish site ...

Mayayo's quite good for Spanish trail running, particularly if you live near Madrid (as I do 🙂 )

https://carrerasdemontana.com/

Bah. Turned my right ankle hard on Thursday night. Running in the local woods and it was slippy with lots of tree fall/logging. Tripped, stumbled and rather than going down on my face which would be preferable I ended up with all my weight on a twisted ankle. Makes me feel quite peculiar just bringing it back to mind!

Finished the run. Walk/Jogged. Ankle the size of a grapefruit! Now after ICE down to a baseball size but walking still very painful. Realistically I'm not running my first half next weekend 🙁 Postpone until April I think.

I appreciate it's a 'how long is a bit of string question' and I will go see the physio again (ironically the left knee is actually fine which is what I was worried about) but any prognosis on recovery time? Ankle doesn't hurt unless I walk on it. I assume I've done ligaments. But not sure to what level.

TLDR; running at 50 appears to be 1 run = 1 injury 🙁

Bloody annoyingly I felt pretty good as well. Actually confident I could get round the half.

Another join for the Strava run group 😀 on as Lee H 😀
Doing mostly trails as I find it's easier on the body and is more interesting! Doing red Jan on Strava, run every day, and doing really well imo lol!
I'm another big fan of sal speed X
Well done folks and keep digging deep 😀

Best of luck with the recovery Alex.

Parkrun this morning, try and set a decent baseline time on a fast course, though yet another Friday night 7 a side comeback may slow me down a bit....

I got my first run in yesterday morning before work. Just 2 miles at a (very) steady pace (7.55/mile). Just trying to condition the legs.

Felt good, no injuries. I'll probably stick with that distance/pace for the next 2 or 3 runs then start to pick up the pace/increase the distance.

I'm going to sign up for the Cumbrian Run to give me something to aim for. It's a few years since I last did it but managed 1.45:02 with very little training, so hopefully take a good ten minutes off that.

I may even sign up to the Strava club...

You may be lucky with the ankle, I turned mine in a race a few years ago (heard a loud pop) and despite a big swelling and red bruise up the side of my leg I was jogging on roads in a week. Didn't venture off-road for a while and it felt weak to side forces for a long time though.

but any prognosis on recovery time?

Alex and thecaptain

Yes, been there as well when i was playing decent level* football, which in itself is a lot harder on ankles with more turning, etc. Running should mainly keep them in straight lines, roots and standing on other runners at the start aside!

Trouble is that ligaments don't heal like muscles, with far less blood supply, and in fact may never heal to the pre-injured state. But pain goes far quicker than recovery, leaving you susceptible to injuring again and again.

* there was a relevance to the decent level - it was decent enough that we had a proper physio who taught me to strap properly for support so I was less likely to do it again. Tubulars are ok for compression during recovery but won't really help with support, you need to shave your foot and lower leg (trust me on this) and then get some 1" or 1.5" wide Zinc oxide tape and tape some additional external ligaments on to assist the weak ones in your foot.

You might need to experiment to ensure you get the right tightness to not restrict you too much, key is keeping it far enough back so the foot can still flex fore and aft so you can run, and enough to allow you to pronate or whatever as you run but only that.

Bloody annoyingly I felt pretty good as well. Actually confident I could get round the half.

You would've have aced it, your times were bang on the money! Don't be tempted to get back too soon, it will take at least 6 weeks to heal, and for us oldies, probs even longer than that.

chill for bit and start gently

Thanks all. Seeing physio Monday and will follow her advice as well. She’s sorted out my many injuries over the years....

Nick - yeah well I can postpone until April so plenty of time to get ready. In more worried now about when I can ride again. It’s not ‘tomorrow’ is it?